Chapter 131: COME BACK (2)
“Is that true?” asked Tiyo.
Xantimur nodded. Tiyo looked at Crockta and Anor with a disappointed face. “Well..things turned out alright...I guess?”
“It’s a good thing,” Anor quickly replied.
Crockta nodded. “I agree.”
“I see...did we come to the north for nothing...?”
“No, we gained a lot of things from coming to the north.”
Tiyo’s face brightened at what Crockta had said. “That’s true. I wouldn’t have been able to transform the General like this if we hadn’t come to the north.”
The General in its new Vulcan form was subtly changing every day. The more Tiyo’s skills in handling the General increased, the more it evolved into the form he desired. One day, it could even turn into a super powerful rocket launcher!
“Fine, Anor! I will take you sightseeing around the continent!”
The truth was that Tiyo’s father, Hedor, had left the north a while ago and was in the continent.
“Can’t believe my father didn’t come back home even though he’s in the continent. I will really give it to him the next time we meet.”
Although Hedor’s exact whereabouts were unknown, Xantimur said that, according to his memory, Hedor was on his way to the southern part of the continent. Hedor had been interested in a region south of Quantes where humans and dwarves were thriving. Moreover, it was an area bustling with players.
“Are you going to leave immediately?” asked Xantimur.
Although Xantimur didn’t reveal any emotions on his face, Crockta could sense that he was a bit disappointed. Crockta exchanged glances with Tiyo, and he could tell that they were thinking the same thing. They didn’t know when they would come to the Black Forest again. Where else would they meet a black dragon like Xantimur and monsters that put so much work into honing their skills?
“This time, we will stay longer than last time and return to the continent after honing our skills.”
Crockta and Tiyo looked at Anor and added, “Our adventures will get tougher in the future.”
Tiyo and Anor’s reactions to Crockta’s enthusiasm were starkly different.
“Haha, I’m looking forward to it!” exclaimed Tiyo.
“I just want to...go sightseeing...uh, nevermind...”
“Glad to hear that. They have been waiting for you for quite a while.” Xantimur nodded and pointed behind him. Everyone turned around to look and exclaimed.
Three masters were standing there. They were the powerhouses who would lead Crockta and his friends to new heights.
The giant with the single eye, Cyclops, cracked his knuckles as he looked at Crockta. The centaur with a human torso and the lower body of a horse waved his huge longbow and grinned at Tiyo. An unidentifiable being wearing a tattered hood muttered quietly without revealing his face as he smiled at Anor.
“Please enjoy your stay at my lair to the fullest.”
***
Time passed. The battle with the Cyclops was of great help to Crockta. It wasn’t about reaching a higher level of swordsmanship or realizing a higher level of mastery. It was about becoming accustomed to the challenges of the higher realm of combat, something he had forgotten.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”
“Arghhhhhhhhhhh!”
The fighting spirit of orc warriors came alive. The two had abandoned their weapons a while ago and were now charging toward each other. Although an orc’s body couldn’t withstand the enormous body of a Cyclops, Crockta’s strength had reached unimaginable heights.
The two gripped each other’s hand. Despite their vast difference in size, Crockta exerted tremendous strength and pushed against him by intertwining his fingertips in between the Cyclops’ fingers. But it was still not enough, so Crockta pressed his body against the Cyclops’ and pushed.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhh!” As the Cyclops exerted his strength, Crockta was pushed back.
“Bul’taaaaaaar!” Crockta used his opponent’s force against him and disrupted the Cyclops’ balance, spinning him around. The Cyclops tumbled to the ground.
Crockta immediately charged. “Ahhhhhhh!”
He threw a punch in a mounted position. However, the Cyclops’ thick forearm blocked the attack and closed any openings.
Crockta immediately put him in an arm lock hold.
“What?” The Cyclops stared blankly at Crockta’s unfamiliar formation and surrendered after realizing that it was a dangerous technique he wouldn’t be able to endure.
The battle ended with Crockta’s victory.
Over the next few days, their battles continued as they exchanged victories and losses, but the number of Crockta’s victories gradually increased. The Cyclops came to acknowledge Crockta’s exponential growth.
“Another win for me, Hawk Eye!”
The Cyclops smiled with his one eye, his extremely fierce and manly eye. His dark brown eye blazed fiercely under his thick double eyelid but also had a pensive appearance to it. It seemed to look into the depths of a person’s soul. Such was the reason for his name—Hawk Eye!
Even in Xantimur’s lair, there wasn’t anyone who could match him in combat except for, perhaps, Xantimur in his real form.
The Cyclops had first laughed at Crockta when he saw him because he was a tiny, cute orc compared to him. But he had come to acknowledge Crockta as his match as he grew stronger from the continued battles. Crockta not only held his own in the battle against him but also demonstrated superior combat skills.
The two began to head back to the castle with their arms wrapped around each other’s shoulders. Although the balance was off because of their difference in height, it was the most fitting way for these men who had shared punches together to accompany one another.
As he neared the castle, Crockta saw Tiyo from a distance.
He looked haggard from the intense training.
“Hey, you guys are done already?” asked Tiyo.
The centaur was giving Tiyo a ride on his back. Tiyo waved at them with an exhausted face as he leaned on the centaur’s back.
“I taught him a lesson today,” said Tiyo.
“You call that a lesson? How amusing.”
“I saw you flinch back in surprise.”
“I was just amused because a little flea that could only jump an inch started jumping two inches.”
“I’m gonna shoot a bullet into your back!”
“I didn’t know you were also sneaky.”
“The way you talk is so annoying!”
Tiyo was bickering with his new opponent, Hecar, the centaur.
Anor was also heading back to the castle. Their day’s work was over.
As usual, they enjoyed a feast at Xantimur’s castle. The food was always superb, but tonight’s dinner was made from the finest ingredients. Today, in a rare instance, alcohol was served.
Xantimur and Crockta’s friends stayed up all night drunk on liquor. Xantimur was being considerate because it was their last night.
***
The day of their departure came. Now, they were fully ready to head to the continent. Crockta, Tiyo, and Anor bid farewell to Xantimur and the monsters they had grown attached to.
Crockta and his friends had fought against all of the monsters at least once and shared their skills. Although they were creatures categorized as monsters, they were masters who had honed their skills and were pioneers in their fields. Someday, they would receive the recognition they deserved.
Crockta vowed that if that day never came, he would pave the way for them. Now he wasn’t just a normal warrior but the chieftain of the north, and a widely renowned warrior in the continent, orc Crockta of righteousness. He was becoming someone who could have an influence on others.
With eyes filled with confidence, he shook hands with Hawk Eye.
Crack! Crack!
In true fashion of tough men, it immediately turned into a test of strength.
Crockta gritted his teeth with trembling hands. To be honest, Hawk Eye was stronger, but Crockta gritted his teeth and endured the pain in his hand. Then, Hawk Eye grinned and let go of his hand.
Crockta caressed his numb hand and then tapped on his greatsword. Hawk Eye shrugged. Meanwhile, Tiyo was saying bye to his two rivals.
“You guys should practice a bit more while I’m gone. Try not to get obliterated by someone else!”
“Cut your nonsense! You don’t even stand a chance against us!”
“We should drop our weapons and have a go at it!” shouted Tiyo.
“Why would I fight without my weapon, kyak?” said Kiao.
“Tsk, tsk, what a childish conversation.”
“Horse, mind your own business!”
“Yeah! Your four-legged creature, kyak!”
“Your hearts are as small as your bodies...”
“What?!”
“Take back what you said!”
Tiyo had the ability to turn any situation into comedy.
Anor exchanged farewells with the lich, the mysterious hooded man, and with the crew of the skeletons that followed them. Anor had become one of them and made a sinister smile as he embraced them. There was no trace of his old self, the one who used to fear the undead.
“Hehe...let’s see each other again...” The lich then brought out something and handed it to Anor.
It was a skeleton. Anor was ecstatic. “This is the third vertebra...hehe...something so precious...! Thank you, hehe...!”
Now he seemed like a psychopath lich who studied bones and corpses deep inside a dungeon.
Finally, everyone exchanged farewells with Xantimur, who waved goodbye as he looked at the Demon’s Mouth, the Belt of Despair, instead of Crockta. Xantimur seemed to know something about the belt, but he wouldn’t budge. Crockta didn’t ask further because he knew that Xantimur would have told him himself if there was something he had to know.
Once he became stronger and could control it, he could directly hear it from the demon.
Then, they departed from Xantimur’s lair.
The monsters saw them off outside the forest. They waved until they couldn’t see each other.
There was nothing left to go through. They raced toward the continent on their karuks. The karuks that had rested well and fattened up at Xantimur’s lair ran energetically.
“Anor,” said Tiyo.
“Yes?”
“I have something I’m curious about. Your second teacher...the guy wearing the hood...”
“Yes.”
“What is he? I couldn’t see because of the hood.”
“Ahh...hehehe...he is...” Anor’s eyes grew nostalgic, and then his expression suddenly turned into that of a psychopath lich again. Crockta and Tiyo got chills down their spine from the sudden transformation.
“Hehe...the moment you see his face...he leads the minds of those who see him to a new world...hehe...he is truly great...!”
“...!”
“Do you want to see...? His real identity...?”
“Ah, no, nevermind...”
Crockta looked at Tiyo in resentment. Why did he ask a weird question and ultimately cause Anor to revert to madness?
Anor shouted as the madness raged within him. “Everyone who has seen him...he...hehe...tekelli-li! Tekelli-li! Tekell...mmm!”
Crockta moved his karuk next to Anor’s and covered his mouth. Tiyo leapt up from his karuk and knocked Anor unconscious by striking the back of his neck.
Crockta and Tiyo exchanged glances. Anor had definitely overcome his weakness as a necromancer, but at the same time, he had been swallowed by the madness of the unknown...
“I’m sorry...when we return, we should drag him to a temple, so he can receive a blessing...”
“We need to go to a temple as soon as we arrive on the continent...”
Thus, they continued on their way toward the continent. They passed through Mount Luclan and the barren desert south of the north. The journey was different from last time. There weren’t any orcs charging toward them with weapons, and they didn’t see any dark elves of other species. Had the war taken them? Most seemed to be dedicating their efforts to the survival of their villages.
They enjoyed the natural scenery of the north as they rode on their karuks until they finally arrived at the border that divided the continent from the north.
The mysterious black wall stood in front of them. The unknown being, whose corpse had been swallowed by the Belt of Despair, had probably created it. There was still a lot he didn’t know about the world of Elder Lord.
He could tell that the Chaos that had entranced Calmahart, the mysterious demon that had created the Behemoth and the Forest of Monsters, the demonic belt he had acquired, and the woman he met at the Temple of the Fallen God were all connected. But the overall picture was still unclear.
‘What had happened in the past? What do they want?’
“Shall we get going?”
“Hehe, my heart is thumping from excitement,” replied Tiyo.
There was no rush. He would find out the truth one day as he continued to overcome the battles in his way, and even if he never found out, that was fine too. He just did what he had to do.
“Let’s go!” shouted Tiyo.
Crockta’s crew crossed the black wall. They felt a strange sensation floating as they passed through the wall. Once they got out, the Forest of Monsters spreaded out in front of them. The dense foliage and scenery was the same as always.
But, there was something different about it this time.
“...Hmm.”
“...What is that?”
Their eyes were all drawn to the same place.
Beyond the forest, a group of adventurers was engaged in a fierce battle against a horde of trolls.
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